Some of my students will recognise the technique I taught them to turn a Polar Bear into a shaggy Brown Bear...........using the same technique I was able to make my dog look like a cheeky little terrier!!

How long is your shopping list so far? Brace yourselves, we've got more awesome new products to share over the next few days!!

19 September 2017

Oh boy, you are going to love this kit that is being released tonight!!

I even managed to include a little bit of Copic colouring in mine.

You should know me by now, I do like to add a little extra something to my cards, whether it be colouring............or in this case.....some texture.

I cut the trees out twice, and feathered one set to give the trees a more realistic look, and although it does not show in the photograph I cut the snowman out of velvet adhesive paper, so he is fluffy close up!

The Sno Cone cardstock was coloured with, yes, you guessed it Distress Ink........thank you to Karolyn Loncon for introducing me to inking at the MFT Retreat.....you really started something missy!

A splattering of perfect pearls within the Snow Globe and Adhesive backed White Birch finished it off.

Oh, before I forget, the kit includes shaker pouches, but I opted not to use one for my card as I feared the shaker beads/sequins would get caught up in the textures trees or stick to the fuzzy snowman!

13 September 2017

I had a play with Distress ink again, the water spodges or whatever they're called were a little more successful this time - and then I got messy with some Picket Fence Distress ink that I flicked onto the card afterwards (and yes I flicked it on me too)

Both the bat and toad were stamped with MFT Hybrid Gravel Grey ink and coloured with Copics.

I added some Nuvo Glitter Drops - White Blizzard to add a little bit of sparkle - ooh I really like that stuff! Not sure it works, but I was trying to create the brain waves of the bat mesmerising the toad........

Now as always MFT have taken the hard work out of card design by coming up with a sketch to inspire you:

If you play along you could be the lucky recipient of £50 gift voucher to mftstamps.com

6 September 2017

It's Wednesday so that means time for another Sketch Challenge with My Favorite Things.........have you been playing along?

This week I decided to use the cute little bat from Witch Way is the Candy, the adorable Halloween set that has recently been re-released.

As I've said before I love these challenges - the sketch takes out the hardwork of deciding on your card layout so you can focus on the fun part......colouring!!

Here's a tip, if you find like me that the stitched element of a die is lost when using patterned paper you need not despair. I added a little Copic colouring in a shade slightly darker than the paper and suddenly the frame has depth and dimension.

So why not enter this weeks challenge, you could be the lucky winner of $50 Gift Certificate to mftstamps.com

For this card I used the Plentiful Petals stamp and applied the same technique that I explained over on the MFT Blog in my latest Artistic Expression Feature. Basically I coloured over the top of the solid stamps, aiming for a delicate look to the petals. Fine detail was achieved by adding coloured pencil enhancement.

With a Distress Marker Spritzer Tool and 2 Copic markers ( YR61, YR82) I created a delicate splattered background to add a smidge of texture to the otherwise blank area. Word of advice, a Copic Sketch does not fit in the device overly well, but with a rectangle of funky foam wrapped around the marker I was able to get it stable enough to work just fine!! A cheap alternative to a Copic Airbrush ta da!!

If you wanted to you could add a sentiment to this card, but I've left it blank at the moment............I like the simplicity.

3 September 2017

You're half way there guys, not long to wait now until the new September release goes live at MFTStamps.com

Here is my latest project using the new Pure Innocence - Love you to the Core stamp:

......shock horror, absolutely no Copics were used for this card!

Instead I opted to use my trusty coloured pencils, I personally used Caran D'Ache Luminance for this project, they are amazing to work with and I chose Murano Pastel paper to colour on. It has just enough texture for the pencil without it showing through in your work.

But I would say that MFT cardstock is pretty good for pencil work too - I especially love using MFT Kraft - it really makes the colours of your pencils pop!! The only one I would not recommend is Smooth White as the surface is a tad too smooth for the pencil to adhere well. Oh and I always spray my pencil work when finished to ensure it's fixed and stable......I use Winsor and Newton Professional Fixative but as a frugal student I always went for the budget alternative.......hairspray!!

As I said you don't have too long to wait but why don't you pop along to the blog and see what amazing ideas my fellow DT members have had with this new release HERE

2 September 2017

I got the idea of this card from one of the sentiments on the new Bitty Bears stamps......

"Small Card-Big Thank You"

Adorable little guys aren't they!

I got a bit inky on this one, trying to create a splodgy background with Distress inks, water and the MFT Distressed Patterns stamp - I think I need a little more practice at this as I ended up in rather a mess and had to iron the card flat............stop laughing, crafting bloopers happen to us all!!

You still have a few days to wait I am afraid until the September Release goes live in store.....but that means we have couple more days of scrummy new dies and stamps to share with you all until then.

1 September 2017

I think I have been spending far too much time with farmers in fields lately......usually with food in the car......boy can those men eat when they've been harvesting all day!

Anyway, here are a couple of wooly friends from the new Animal Farm stamp that is being released in a few days!

Now, I've actually set myself a personal challenge to see how many different cardstock you can colour with Copic markers...........believe it or not this image has been coloured on MFT Natural.......shock, horror, not Copic card!!!

Yes, you do have to be careful as this card is softer and therefore it will cause the Copic to bleed more readily, but with a little care you can create a really beautiful soft effect.......don't know about you but I really like it.

I also coloured the Animal Farm Fence die and attached it to the front of the image, mounting the whole piece on Kraft card with foam tape for additional dimension.